Joy of the Chase
by Velgamidragon
Summary: Pandora has been destroyed along with the Black Organization who sought after it. So without a purpose for his crimes and no joy in stealing, what's left for the Phantom Thief Kid now?


**Author's Note: Okay, yeah, first time ever writing Case Closed/Detective Conan soo... I've probably messed up some stuff big time. Since I'm going away to Canada for two weeks on vacation, I wanted to upload something before I left and... this was the only thing that I had close to being finished. I've a couple more oneshot ideas for this fanbase. Not sure if I'll ever get around to them though... Also, I love the dub, so for those characters who appeared often in the dub, I'll be using their English names and for everyone else, it's the Japanese names. :P**

**Story Time Set: This takes place sometime after all the shit goes down with the Black Organization and Pandora (I also believe the headcanon that the BO is after Pandora because really, how many huge evil criminal organizations can possibly exist on one planet?). Also, a lot of this stuff is based largely on Magic Kaito (the manga) which is awesome, so if something is mentioned that you're not familiar with, it's either my headcanon or from the manga (probably from the manga, I don't have much headcanon here)!**

**Disclaimer: Gosho Aoyama-san is the creator of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito and I'm merely here to play around with the universe and characters that he's created. The idea, however, is solely mine.**

* * *

Joy of the Chase

It was not lucky that he had survived. No, it was a freaking _miracle_ that he wasn't dead! Even more unbelievable was the fact that his identity as Phantom Thief Kid _still_ hadn't been revealed to either Kudo _or_ Hartwell! It honestly could have happened so many times that evening, that he couldn't possibly have counted them all. As far as injuries went, the most he had suffered was smoke inhalation and being temporarily blinded when he'd shattered Pandora, all thanks to that red light entering through his eyes, but it could have been worse. He could have been shot. But he wasn't and now Kaito felt nothing but a mixed feeling of euphoria and relief that he hadn't ever experienced before, like the parting of storm clouds to reveal the bright sunshine. The young magician chalked the feeling up to his having successfully-destroyed Pandora, the gem that his father had been killed trying to find. And yet... he couldn't explain this uneasiness that had settled around him.

It was affecting him badly to the point where Aoko was now fully convinced that he was either an alien or some look-alike trying (and failing) to impersonate him. Actually, the entire school was convinced of this as well. Kaito had become extremely quiet and pensive. It would have been fine if it was just a one-time thing. She probably wouldn't have put it past him to act like that to throw her off her guard, causing her to worry about him before he pranked her and then teased her for falling for it so easily.

But this abnormal-Kaito behavior had been carrying on for two weeks now and even if Aoko still harbored some slight suspicion that this _still_ might be a prank, she was very doubtful of that, he could tell from her voice when she talked to him on the way home from school. It was so obvious that she was worried about him and he wanted to reassure her that he was alright, but how could he when he _himself_ didn't feel alright?

"Hey, Kaito, I have something for you!" Aoko said excitedly and Kaito turned his head just in time to see her pull out a huge, slimy, big-eyed-

"FISH! ! ! !" Kaito exclaimed in pure terror and leapt far away from Aoko and that evil hellspawn, pulling out his card gun and aiming it shakily at the horrifying monster in Aoko's arms, "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, AHOKO? ! ! KILL ME? ? ? ?"

But Aoko didn't say anything. She didn't even have that gleeful, evil smile on her face when she normally confronted him with his worst nightmare. If anything, she looked disappointed. She gave a sigh and immediately put the fish back into her bag.

"Sorry. It looks like you really are Kaito then," she said solemnly and Kaito cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"Huh, of course I'm Kaito. Who else would I be?" Kaito asked her as he resumed his place walking beside her.

"Well, you sure haven't been acting like Kaito, that's for sure," she said in annoyance and glared at him out of the corner of her eye, "Now what's going on?"

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh?' me, Bakaito!" Aoko yelled suddenly and placed herself in front of him, her hands on her hips and glaring at him angrily, "I've established that you _are_ Kaito, as unbelievable as that is at the moment, and it's been about two weeks since you've acted up in class or done anything remotely Kaito-ish, so something's up." Her glare softened up immensely, revealing the worried girl hiding underneath, "Come on, Kaito, what's wrong? Something is, I know it. This is so unlike you."

Kaito tsked in mild annoyance and rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid," he remarked callously, "There's nothing wrong with me at all."

The worry she felt was replaced by furious hurt. She had given him the perfect opportunity to open up to her and tell her what was going on and this is how he treated it! "Fine!" she said angrily as she turned on her heel, facing away from him, "Keep it all to yourself, why don't you!" she turned her head over her shoulder and cast him a withering glare, "But if you don't get your act straightened up by tomorrow, then I'm calling your mom and telling her myself that there's something wrong with you!" And with one final huff, she turned her head away and stalked off, leaving Kaito to grimace over the idea of Aoko calling his mom.

He knew exactly what would happen. His mother would immediately whisk over to Japan and interrogate him mercilessly without sleep until she'd determined the problem and how to fix it. She'd even make him skip school if that's what it took! No, he _really_ didn't want his mother coming back to Japan just for this. But... he didn't know why he felt so unsettled. He was more uneasy than he had been when he had learned the truth that his father had been murdered. What could his mother discover with an intense interrogation that he hadn't figured out in two weeks? And then it hit him. He hadn't really been focusing on figuring out what was wrong and had been ignoring- no, purposefully avoiding it! He now knew what he had to do. He was going to figure out the source of his uneasiness and end it, even if it meant skipping school tomorrow.

()()()()()()()()

Kaito went straight up to his room as soon as he entered his home and threw himself down on the bed, grabbing a deck of cards next to his bedside table and aimlessly shuffled them as he let his mind wander. This uneasy feeling had started around two weeks ago soon after destroying Pandora, so it had to be related to that. He didn't believe he was uneasy about destroying it; no, he felt extremely glad to have done so. He had personally destroyed the very thing that had taken his father away from him and he shifted his attention from the cards in his hand to gaze fondly at the portrait of his father hanging on his wall. The portrait of the greatest magician in the world and the original Phantom Thief Kid, Toichi Kuroba. He had become the Phantom Thief for Mom's sake and then _he_ had become the Phantom Thief to find his father's murderers and stop them once he found out their plan.

Kaito chuckled dryly, "Heh-heh, well I stopped them finally, so there's no need to search for Pandora anymo-" and he stopped abruptly. "That's right..." he realized slowly, "I only became Phantom Thief Kid to figure out who killed Dad and then destroy Pandora. And it's already been nineteen years since Mom retired as Phantom Lady, so Dad has accomplished his original mission as well. There's... no need for Phantom Thief Kid to exist anymore..."

And there he had it. The source of his two weeks worth of uneasiness. He hadn't figured out what was to happen to his alternate identity yet. He couldn't remain as Phantom Thief Kid. He hadn't liked stealing those gems even when it was necessary, so there was _no_ way he was going to continue stealing without having a purpose. There really was no need for the alter ego anymore. He supposed he'd just have to withdraw him completely from the stage and that would be the end of it. Or at least, Kaito wished it was that simple, but he knew better. Phantom Thief Kid was an internationally-renowned thief, not just a stage name. As much as he wanted to, it was impossible to simply hang up the mantle and forget about it.

Inspector Nakamori was a perfect example of that, Kaito remembered with a slight frown. When the rest of the world had believed that Phantom Thief Kid had died, he was one of few who hadn't and then Phantom Thief Kid had appeared on the world stage once again eight years later, just last year, proving him right. And then the Inspector had nearly gone crazy when he hadn't made any heist announcements for those three months before Christmas. He couldn't solve the problem of the Phantom Thief for everyone, but Inspector Nakamori was a big concern, since he was the officer in charge of the Kid heists. His dedication was commendable, but Inspector Nakamori would wait another eight years or more for Phantom Thief Kid to appear again and he didn't want to do that to the Inspector. The Inspector was useless at stopping him, but he didn't want him to be sitting around searching every newspaper possible for the next eight years of his life waiting for someone who would never appear again.

But what could he do to dissuade the stubborn Inspector? He really wanted to go out with a bang for all his adoring fans as a final farewell, but the Inspector wouldn't really believe it was the last heist and that would mean stealing again, which he didn't want to do. The chase to catch him had always been the most exciting part of the heists anyway, especially when Kudo was one of them. Now _there_ was a fun opponent! The only way that Inspector Nakamori would believe that the Phantom Thief Kid was really gone was if he was caught and arrested. He laughed a moment at the thought, but then sobered up, looking serious again. Such an idea was probably not that far from the truth and it made him wonder. He didn't really like the idea of letting himself get arrested for numerous reasons. But how could he convince Inspector Nakamori to give up chasing after Kid without getting arrested? Fake Phantom Thief Kid's death? No, that would be stupid. That would send people into a different kind of frenzy and he'd probably be found out in a heartbeat, especially if Kudo was called upon to investigate it. Magic was his thing, not murders. With a frustrated growl, Kaito ruffled his hair before standing up and heading down to the kitchen to eat something. He wasn't getting anywhere with this. He would sleep on it and see if a fresh start would give him any new ideas.

()()()()()()()()()

He was right. Sleeping on it _had_ been useful, and as a result, he knew exactly what he had to do to fix everything. But it could wait until after breakfast. School? Pfft, school could wait. Besides, he hadn't solved the problem yet, just found the cause, and Aoko's threat about calling his mom was still very real. Also, if everything went as he imagined it would, he wouldn't have to worry about school for a _very_ long time. Kaito finished breakfast without haste and left the house with nothing more than the clothes on his back. He wasn't worried about running into any classmates, he always walked with Aoko and if the timing was right, then he wouldn't run into her on the way to his destination.

"Kaito!"

Well, he _shouldn't_ have run into her!

Completely annoyed and frustrated that this part of his plan had gone awry, Kaito did an about-face and shouted, "Ahoko! What are you doing so far away from school at this time, you're gonna be late!"

"Well, look who's talking Bakaito!" Aoko retorted, "You're not any closer to school than me and not only do you not have your school bag, but you're not even dressed in your uniform; what are you thinking? ?"

"Hm, maybe I'm not going to school today, ever think of that?" Kaito suggested.

"Ehh? ? ? Kaito, you can't skip class! !" Aoko exclaimed, her shock replacing most of her anger.

"Well, there's no point in going if you're planning on calling my mom," Kaito said with a casual shrug of his shoulders as he approached her.

When he stood right in front of her, he produced a beautiful, blooming red rose from seemingly out of thin air and into his hand. She had seen him do this trick a million times before, but she still didn't understand how he did it and of course, he would never tell her. But unlike the other times, when he had simply handed her the rose, this time he placed the rose in her hair and settled it just above her left ear. He'd never placed flowers in her hair before and Aoko didn't know how to react.

"This flower can stand in place of my absence if you'd like. Bye Aoko," Kaito said with a careless wave as he started walking away and not in the direction of either school or home.

"B-Bye...?" Aoko said as she waved back uncertainly.

Was Kaito... skipping school today because of what she'd told him yesterday? About how concerned she was for him? Nah, that couldn't be right, could it...? She gingerly touched the rose in her hair and smiled, deciding to leave it in. After all, Kaito had never put flowers in her hair before.

()()()()()()()()

Kaito had really wanted to avoid meeting Aoko at all today, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. He did feel a little better that he'd gotten to talk to her without having a huge argument. He didn't want to fight with her today and he had succeeded. Kaito's walk suffered no further interruptions and he arrived unimpeded at his destination, the police department. He entered, knowing exactly where he was headed, he just hoped the old man wouldn't be too hard to actually find. He was in luck. There was the Inspector, sitting at his desk and what do you know – he was scanning through the newspapers as dedicated as ever.

"Hey, Inspector Nakamori!" Kaito called out jovially.

The Inspector immediately looked up. "Oh, hey Kaito," he said in a bored tone once he saw the boy and his eyes returned to the newspaper. Kaito's grin widened further. Any second now... "Kaito? ! ? !" Nakamori exclaimed loudly and stared bug-eyed at the grinning teen. "What are you doing here, you're supposed to be at school! ! !" he yelled as soon as he had verified the time on the clock.

"I know, I know," Kaito said as he made a calming gesture with his hands, "But there was something that I needed to talk to you about."

"And it couldn't have waited until _after_ school?" Nakamori asked with an expression of complete disbelief on his face.

"No, I have to tell you now. This can't wait," Kaito said seriously and it took him aback slightly. It was very rare that the boy ever_looked_ serious about... anything! Whatever it was must really have bothered Kaito. Aoko had mentioned something the other day about Kaito's behavior being strange and wouldn't talk to her about it. Was that what this was all about?

"Alright, son, I'm listening," Nakamori said as he set the paper down and gave him his full attention. Kaito may have been a mischief-making arrogant little brat, but he never let it get in the way of his attending classes or affecting his schoolwork. This must be serious.

Kaito gave a small half-smirk and shook his head. "Not here, it's too open. Can we talk in a private room? Preferably with blinds over the windows if there are any."

"Sure..." Nakamori said slowly, not really sure _why_ Kaito was making such a demand, but willing to play along a little more. However, if this turned out to just be one big prank, he'd be more than a little ticked off.

Nakamori found such a room as Kaito had described and ushered him inside. It was a small room with just a table in the center surrounded by eight chairs and a whiteboard off to one side. He watched Kaito as the teen gazed around the room and gave a satisfactory nod.

"Good, good, this is perfect," Kaito said as he closed the door behind him and locked it from the inside.

"Alright, kid, what it is you wanted to tell me?" Nakamori asked, starting to get impatient.

"Just a second, just a second, may I see your handcuffs?"

That was going too far. "Now hold on, Kaito. These things are not a toy that I can just hand over to civilians," Nakamori said sternly.

"Please, just for a minute. I promise I won't do anything stupid with them," Kaito begged and Nakamori only just barely relented. "Thank you, Inspector Nakamori," Kaito said with a slight inclination of his head and before Nakamori could stop him, Kaito had placed the handcuffs on both his own wrists.

"Oi, oi, Kaito-!"

"Well done, Inspector Nakamori. You've finally caught me."

"Eh? Kaito, what are you blabbing on about?" Nakamori asked, partially-distracted as he tried to find the key for the handcuffs.

"I am the Phantom Thief Kid. You've finally achieved your life-long career goal," Kaito said simply.

Nakamori stared blankly at him for a full minute before he burst out laughing, "Nice try, Kaito, but there's no way that you could be Phantom Thief Kid. I've been chasing him around since long before you were born."

"Your statement would hold true if I was claiming to be the first Phantom Thief Kid. I'm the Phantom Thief Kid that you've been chasing around for the past year. The reason why Phantom Thief Kid disappeared for eight years was because the first Phantom Thief Kid was my old man."

"T-Toichi Kuroba! ?"

"Yes. I became Phantom Thief Kid to discover who had killed him and then, once I found them, I continued on for the sake of pursuing and destroying the gem whose search had led to my father's death. I have accomplished my task and now there is no need to Phantom Thief Kid to exist. Stealing gems would be pointless now, so I wish for you to arrest me. I am a thief like my father before me even though I believe my actions were justified. You've finally caught Phantom Thief Kid, shouldn't you be happy Inspector?"

Kaito had not cracked either a smirk or a smile once as he spoke and Nakamori was slowly beginning to accept the truth. He was dead serious. He really was Phantom Thief Kid as... unbelievable (and yet believable at the same time) as that was. However, there were still some pieces of this rather interesting puzzle that didn't make sense.

"Why?" Now Kaito looked confused by the question, so Nakamori took it upon himself to clarify. "Why even bother? I never figured out who you were, surely you knew that. Whenever I got close, you were always just one step ahead of me and you disproved it flawlessly. Why bother showing up here and letting yourself get arrested? You could have just hung up the hat and mantle and no-one would be the wiser."

Kaito finally grinned, but it was an ironic, knowing sort of smile like he'd expected the question. "You waited eight years for a dead man to reappear and conquer the moonlit skies once again. Heh, you could barely handle my absence for three straight months because of a cold and exams. Aoko worries about you a lot and I didn't want you to waste your life and worry her more by waiting for someone who would never appear again."

"Why as Kaito? Why not as Phantom Thief Kid?"

"My dad worked very hard to create the image of Phantom Thief Kid: a gentleman thief who steals by moonlight and is a master of disguise, can break into any safe, pass by any security system, and overcome any obstacle to achieve his goal. I did my best to uphold that image and I do not wish to tarnish my father's most incredible achievement," Kaito explained with some satisfaction and pride.

"There's more to that, isn't there?" Nakamori probed gently.

Under his poker face, Kaito was taken aback, but he nodded and muttered a 'yeah' all the same. It was true. That wasn't the only reason he hadn't wanted to show up as Phantom Thief Kid. No matter what he had ever said, the identity of Phantom Thief Kid had belonged to his father alone. He had merely temporarily-donned his father's outfit and pretended to be him, like an understudy filling in for the main actor. He had felt amazing as Phantom Thief Kid, but he had never felt like he could be good enough to completely fill his father's shoes and because of that, he felt that arriving as Phantom Thief Kid would only sully his father's legacy as the truly untrappable Phantom Thief Kid, even if he and the Inspector were the only ones who knew there were two different individuals who had been Phantom Thief Kid.

"Kaito, you really are a piece of work," Nakamori said with a heavy sigh.

Kaito merely grinned mischievously in response, "I did my best, sir!"

The Inspector walked right up to him and grabbed one of his cuffed wrists and held it up in the air, the other wrist dangling uselessly beside it. Kaito continued to give that rogue smile even as the Inspector sighed yet again, but it instantly disappeared and his poker face faltered as Inspector Nakamori inserted the handcuff key into the lock. There was a 'click' and the cuffs came loose away from his wrists.

Nakamori saw the bewildered expression on Kaito's face and huffed as he returned the handcuffs to where they belonged on his person, "Don't be so naïve, Kaito. Phantom Thief Kid would never walk into the main police department building with his hands outstretched just waiting to be arrested. I'll catch Phantom Thief Kid on my own in the middle of one of his brilliant heists."

"But, Inspector-!" Kaito protested. What was he talking about? _He_ was Phantom Thief Kid and he'd just told him that there wouldn't be anymore heists!

"Kaito, I'm no fool. Phantom Thief Kid appeared around the same time that your father introduced me to your mother. His reason for becoming Phantom Thief Kid is probably no more selfish than yours. Kaito, Phantom Thief Kid has become something beyond both you and your father. You are no longer Phantom Thief Kid; he has taken on an identity all his own that has become an internationally-recognized phenomenon. Phantom Thief Kid _will_ take to the skies once again, with a purpose just as selfless as those of his predecessors and I will gladly wait for that day. Now..." Nakamori turned a piercing stare at Kaito, "shouldn't _you_ be in school?"

"Ah, no way!" Kaito yelled in dismay as he gazed at the clock on the wall.

He only had five minutes to get to class and he wasn't even dressed for it! In his defense, he honestly hadn't expected that he'd be _going_ to school today, but still. He was just to tear out of the room as fast as he could when a strong hand grabbed his arm and held him back.

"I'll drive you there, Kaito. I am partially-responsible for your being late after all," Nakamori said clearly before he released the teen's arm and Kaito followed him out of the room all the way to the car.

Fortunately, Kaito's house wasn't far, so it wouldn't take too long, but there was still no way to get to his house and back to school in five minutes even if Nakamori _did_ put on the sirens (which Kaito had earnestly suggested) to get everybody out of the way. It was a long enough drive that Kaito had time to ask the Inspector a very important question.

"Inspector Nakamori, you're... you're not going to tell Aoko, are you? About me being Phantom Thief Kid?" Kaito asked, his poker face slipping slightly. He wasn't sure if Aoko would ever forgive him if she found out, regardless of the reason.

"That's not my place to tell," Nakamori said after a measured silence had passed between them, "As far as I'm concerned, you're _not_ Phantom Thief Kid."

That relieved Kaito immensely. Nakamori wouldn't tell his daughter. If she ever did find out, it would be because either she figured it out (doubtful as that was) or he told her. Kaito had leapt out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop as soon as they had reached his house and he dashed in to get dressed. Even as he focused on getting ready, he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

He had practically thrown himself at the Inspector's feet and he still wasn't arrested. Why? It wasn't because Inspector Nakamori liked him that much, he wasn't the type of guy to do that. And he had to wonder about the man's words. Had Phantom Thief Kid really become that much of an icon? If that was the case, then Dad's plan had succeeded even greater than either of them could have expected. Or maybe Dad _had_ expected it? Who could say, really? Still though, that the Inspector would choose _not_ to arrest the current _known_ Thief still confused him a little. Why wait around for someone that might never show up in his lifetime when the current Phantom Thief Kid was retiring and giving himself up? And then it hit him! Was that the answer? Was it because if he arrested Phantom Thief Kid now that he would forever lose that wonderful experience? He just _had _to ask! Completely dressed now, Kaito grabbed his bag and threw himself out of the house skidding in front of the passenger door and climbed into the car before it took off.

"The chase," Kaito said suddenly, smile wide and mischievous as he stared at the Inspector, "That's why you won't arrest me now that I'm no longer making heists. There's no excitement in catching a rabbit that walked right into a trap compared to shooting a swift-footed healthy buck in its prime. You enjoyed the chase as much as _I _did!"

"Well, it looks like you've got me all figured out, Kaito," Nakamori said with a slight snort.

"_You're not so bad Mr. Inspector, but good luck finding your next Phantom Thief Kid,"_ Kaito thought to himself as he grinned smugly to himself.

Fortunately, Kaito was only a few minutes late to the first class, so he hadn't really missed anything. But _un_fortunately for the poor teacher, Kaito was back to his usual, mischievous, prankster self and it would be a miracle if the class learned anything today now that Aoko was already chasing Kaito around the classroom with her self-claimed mop.

It hadn't even been five minutes and he had already ticked her off enough to warrant trying to hit him with the deadly (in her hands) weapon-of-a-mop, but at least somewhere deep in her subconscious, even as she tried to scrape him off the ceiling, she knew that Kaito was okay now, and that was all it took to make her happy.

After the events at the police department, there was no chance that his poker face would slip up again, and certainly not at school now that he'd fixed the problem, so even as she tried to scrape him off the ceiling, there was no chance in the world that Aoko would ever know how happy he was to see the rose still in her hair from where he'd left it that morning.

* * *

_Okay, yeah, um... I... honnestly have no idea if either Kaito or __Inspector Nakamori would **actually** do this, but I like the idea and they don't seem... too OOC as far as their characters go, so yeah, we'll just go with this. Ironically, Aoko (the character who appeared the least in this out of the three) was the easiest to write. ^^' Don't know why._


End file.
